After the establishing shot of the city of Paris, the camera zooms extremely fast into the area of Montmartre in Paris, causing the spectator to feel as though they are on a roller-coaster ride as the camera twists and turns through the streets of Paris until it reaches Montmartre. This area is shown as corrupt and sinister as there are extreme close-ups of a priest who warns the spectator away from “this village of sin”, then of two prostitutes and finally a drunkard, again the shots being in a sepia colour scheme accentuating a feeling of age of this area. The shots are very unrealistic as the close-ups of the people of Montmartre are superimposed onto the streets of Paris, reminding the audience they are watching a film. The shot then tilts upwards and lies through an open window, brushing past a dirty, ragged curtain that is fluttering in the wind, into a dark and dingy room, providing an introduction to surroundings that will soon become familiar and leaving the audience to anticipate who the room belongs to and what is going to happen next.
As the camera continues to protrude into the room, it focuses on the figure of a man hunched over in the corner, sitting on the floor, shielding himself from the light of the window with an empty bottle of alcohol in his hand. As the figure looks up, the audience immediately recognises him as Christian due to the brief introduction of him when Toulouse opened the film. Christian is unshaven, has streaks of tears down his cheeks proving him to have been crying and in general, looks awful when compared to the image projected of him previously in the film. The camera then changes to jumpy shots that simultaneously follow one another almost immediately, showing the protagonist in different positions around his room, one of his looking out of the window, one drinking out of a bottle and then one of him sat at his typewriter. As he is sat at the typewriter, he begins to type the words that are subsequently being sung by Toulouse, and then in conclusion, it ends with the words “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return”, emphasising these words causing the audience to realise that they have significance within the film. As the shot appears blurry, it causes the audience to realise that they are seeing things through the eyes of Christian as he is crying. Christian begins his narration, his first sentence being “The Moulin Rouge”, as a voice over confirming its importance.
The shot moves slowly away from Christian, out of his window, over the Moulin Rouge night-club, showing it to be dark, dilapidated and derelict. The next sequence of shots follows on immediately and shows the Moulin Rouge as its former self; exciting, wild and frenzied, contrasting to its previous shot. Then the desolate Moulin Rouge dissolves back onto the screen, inducing this juxtaposition look even more extreme. The voice over is still in use and Christian remembers the Moulin Rouge as it was and its lavish extravagance. A metaphor of a kingdom is used to represent the Moulin Rouge, with such references to it as being “ruled over by Harold Zidler”, it being a “kingdom of night-time pleasures” and some of its inhabitants being “beautiful creatures of the underworld”. These referrals to the Moulin Rouge create an image of it being a completely different world and in reality this example of excessive language would not be used to describe such a place.
The next scene is of Satine. Against the riotous colour of the Moulin Rouge, it is here we see her for the first time, standing out from the background. She is dressed in black, is very still and is holding a cigarette in her hand. Although she has been described as the sparkling diamond, the shot that we see of her is very different and due to the colour scheme of the shot the audience sees of her, the fact that she is barely moving and is looking away from the camera gives the impression that she may have been involved in some sort of tragedy. Not only does it distinguish her from the scenes that we have just seen, but it distinguishes her from the brash can-can dancers who also worked at the Moulin Rouge along with her. The fact that she seems to be in funeral dress, this leads the audience to anticipate what is to come. Christian finally confirms what the audience picked up on when he says, “The one I love is dead”. This is a clear indication to the audience that this is really only a film and not reality as real life follows in chronological order whereas these flashes from past to present are a constant device used to remind the spectator that they are in fact watching a film as the scenes chop and change frequently, moving from times when the Moulin Rouge flourished to the time when it was abandoned and its star had died.
Christian begins to tell a story, which started one year ago. This is typed to reinforce it to the audience to emphasise that he is telling a story. The camera moves swiftly to an extreme shot of Paris, and as the shots that follow are in sepia, it causes a feeling of age so that you feel you have been transported back a year. We find ourselves zooming into the train station where Christian is seen getting off of a train, where we are introduced to the real Christian, a young, innocent boy who has come to Paris to earn a living as a writer and fall in love. The music in the background of this sequence of shots is quite jolly and has French lyrics, which signifies his good mood when arriving for the first time to Paris. This shot is shown in a lighter aspect of sepia when compared to when it was used before and was more of black and white, promoting a more positive atmosphere. As he steps out of the station, the scenery changes as Christian walks through certain areas, again stressing to the audience that we are seeing through the eyes of Christian, proving yet again that this is only a film. There are mainly jump cuts to show the audience as much of Paris as possible one year before in contrast to how it has just been portrayed as a dark, dirty, sinful place. The camera then takes the same route as it did before when zooming into Montmartre, this time showing it how it was perceived by Christian when he first arrived. There is a flashback to Christian’s father warning him to stay away from Montmartre as it was known as a village of sin, acting similarly as the priest did on the first trip through Paris. As the camera continues to follow the same route, the narration and images shown are all positive, as it shows the same man who was shown as a drunk before, happily singing and playing an instrument whilst outside a café. The radical changes that seem to have occurred in the city are not due to a change in time but simply due to Christian’s change in his perception of his surroundings, which is picked up on frequently by the audience, another factor proving what they are watching is a film.
Once again, similarly as before, the camera follows swiftly up through the window of Christians room, this time the changes are distinctly noticeable as the room is portrayed as bright, airy and clean and shows Christian looking out of the window, satisfied with his surroundings. Christian explains his need to be in Paris due its bohemian atmosphere and want to write about truth, beauty, freedom and most importantly, love. Christian sits down at his typewriter to begin writing about love when he realises that he knows nothing about love as he has never been in love. This is made more obvious to the audience as there is a brief pause on Christian as he realises his obsession with love, purposely pausing on it to accentuate its importance. Then there is another pause as he realises he hasn’t been in love and there is an extreme close up of him, followed by another pause. These aspects contribute to audience participation cinema as the audience is completely aware that they’re watching a movie, as there are constant interruptions with the telling of the story. To emphasis this, things flash from past to present because as Christian types things on his typewriter, certain events occur. As he is contemplating his ignorance of what it is like to be in love, an unconscious Argentinean man falls through his roof, dangling upside down from a cord attached to his foot. As soon as this happens, Toulouse Lautrec bursts in the door with a jumper wrapped around his head, supposedly dressed as a nun, attempting to explain everything in rather a patchy fashion, missing certain things out. The next set of events occurs rapidly and is hardly taken in by the spectator before something else happens. Suddenly, three faces appear over the hole in the roof asking what has happened and who will fill in for the unconscious Argentinean in their rehearsal. This sequence is so far removed from reality that it is impossible to believe that it is real life.
Christian then joins the group from the room above and joins their play of “Spectacular Spectacular”, which when presented to the audience seems to be a parody of the musical “The Sound of Music” as it is set in Austria, involves nuns and is set in the hills. This use of the music and story line from ‘The Sound of Music’ shows that it is definitely not real life as ‘The Sound of Music’ as set in the Second World War, which is after the time period in which this film is currently set. When the others are quarrelling over the lyrics of a song, Christian bursts into song, singing the lyrics “The hills are alive with the sounds of music”, stunning the others to silence. He then follows this up with the next set of lyrics “With songs they have sung, for a thousand years”, which continues to amaze those involved in the production of ‘Spectacular, Spectacular’. This again emphasises the unrealistic nature of this production. He is asked to take over the writing of the show to which he becomes filled with doubt when a flashback of his father warning him to stay away from Montmartre as he’d only end up with a can-can dancer. In part of persuasion, the group of bohemians ask him whether he believes in truth, beauty, freedom and love, to which Christian replies with statements such as “above all things I believe in love”, “love is like oxygen”, “love is a many splendid thing”,“love lifts us up where we belong” and “all you need is love”. These statements are all lyrics from contemporary songs, and allow the audience to feel a link of familiarity to what Christian is saying and what he believes in. Through using such a grand scale of lines from songs, it allows a greater portion of the audience to realise this effect.
In celebration, Toulouse offers Christian a glass of Absinthe, the most potent alcoholic drink, and in correspondence, it is typed on his typewriter to reinforce furtherly to the audience the effect this drink will have on him. Due to the colour of Absinthe being green, the colour scheme of the shot turns a slightly green shade and when there is a close up of Christian, he seems to be bathed in green light. The camera then zooms into the label on the bottle of Absinthe, the green fairy from the label comes alive as Kylie Minogue, looking similar to a figure of Tinkerbell from the story of Peter Pan, and she flies across the room, leaving a sparkling green trail behind her and causing an explosion of fireworks. The fact that the fairy on the label of the bottle has seemingly come alive, it emphasises to the audience that Christian and his group of friends are drunk. The way that Kylie was portrayed as the green fairy makes her look cartoon-like and proves her appearance to be a hallucination. This hallucination reinforces the idea that we are only watching a film as by encountering the hallucination, we are seeing through the eyes of Christian, who is drunk, and this cannot be compared with reality.. The group of bohemians are then shown at mid-shot out on the roof of their hostel, dancing and singing to “The children of the revolution”, as the green fairy writes the words of the bohemians, “Freedom”, “Beauty”, “Truth” and “Love” as a lustrous trail. High-speed dance music is played, accompanied with a high pitched vocal from Kylie Minogue singing “The hills are alive” from ‘The Sound of Music’, portraying it as an overstated musical. In an end to the fairy’s appearance, she then lights up the large, red sign outside of Christian’s bedroom window of “L’amour”, which means love, highlighting the main theme of the film. The fairy then goes on to dance in a fashion like Kylie Minogue, which the audience will be able to relate to, and splits into many different versions of the fairy, emphasising the effect that Absinthe has upon those who drink it. The fairy then spins the windmill of the Moulin Rouge, her eyes turn red and the characters are transported in a whirlwind into the Moulin Rouge. This sequence is pure fantasy and only again fortifies the reality that the audience is only watching a film.
The scene is transported to inside the Moulin Rouge, where it truly is a spectacle for sore eyes. The colours are very brash and saturated and seemingly appears blurred, reminding the audience that they are seeing through the eyes of Christian and it is blurred due to the fact that he is drunk on Absinthe. There is a sudden very fast reel of jump shots, displaying different aspects of the Moulin Rouge with close ups of the brightly coloured skirts worn by the dancers, slurred shots of the rich men and jump cuts of the different spectacles on show inside the night-club. All the while, Christian is still using the voice over technique to convey his first impressions of the place and uses the typewriter to stress certain things. Again, we go back to reality as we see Christian at his typewriter and that what we are viewing of the Moulin Rouge is in the past. Suddenly, the camera transports the audience back into the Moulin Rouge. Christian begins to talk about the notorious can-can dancers who were called “the diamond dogs” and shows a close up of individual dancers. Zidler then joins them and they all start to sing and dance to “Lady Marmalade”. The camera constantly keeps on zooming in and out of the Moulin Rouge, displaying the contrast between inside and outside the night-club, as Zidler is shown outside where it is raining and the colours are damp and dull, in contrast to the lively array of vibrancy of the interior of the Moulin Rouge.
The first glimpse that that audience gets of the Moulin Rouge in its prime is as Christian is describing the infamous dancers of Harold Zidler known as his “diamond dogs”. The first shot shown of them is as the girls begin singing Lady Marmalade and Zidler appears, holding court, taking lead vocals whilst they are dancing. Zidler is initially dressed in a red jacket, black trousers and boots, a top hap complete with a whip. This ‘costume’ worn by him gives the foremost impression of him to be the ‘ringmaster’ of the club and that the dancing girls are his animals on show, hence their entitlement of the “diamond dogs”. Therefore, after this recognition, the audience now perceives the atmosphere of the night-club to be like a circus as the girls are paraded and are on show. From this point onwards as Zidler gives an introduction to the Moulin Rouge, the different perspectives of the club seen through the naïve eyes of Christian, the drunken eyes of Toulouse, the brash and brazen eyes of the dancers, the fiery Zidler and of the rich men cause a juxtaposition of the club being dirty and corrupt to a theme of bohemia. As well as the club being noticed as a circus it could also be noted as a zoo with all of the different spectacles of oddities on show such as singing midgets and dancing men covered with tattoos. On first impressions, the Moulin Rouge is recognised as a weird yet wonderful place to be as you can be lost in the throng of the frantic atmosphere. The fact that this can be picked up on by the audience is another factor of ‘audience participation cinema’ as components such as these do not permit the audience to fall under the belief that what they are watching is real life.
In the next sequence of shots, the dance is changed to the ‘Can-Can’ where the camera spins in a whirlwind of different perspectives, those of the dancers and of the men watching them, giving the build up an even greater effect as the audience’s attention is totally focused on the dancers. This whole sequence emphasises the essence of the Moulin Rouge and at one moment, Christian screams out in exultation along with the music. Although he shouts out, no-one seems to have noticed Christian’s outburst proving further that you could be who you wanted to be in the Moulin Rouge and no-one would judge you because of it.
The whirlwind of dance, music, lights and colour stops – all is still and silence. It is now that Satine makes her entrance and all that can be heard is the glitter that falls from the trapeze she is sitting on. The lighting changes to a lighter colour, a pale blue, sort of silver bathes the Moulin Rouge and everyone looks up at the ceiling to witness the entrance of “the Sparkling diamond”. Toulouse tells Christian of this nickname granted to Satine, which not only gives Christian an insight into what she is like but also the audience. Satine then embarks upon singing “Diamonds are a girls best friend”, making a distinct impression on those in the club, distinguishing herself from the other dancers who work at the night-club. The song she sings is recognised by the audience, providing Satine to be a sort of iconic figure especially as the song that she sings reflects her name. As she is whirled down to the level of the rest of the club, everyone looks up at her, causing it to look as though she is above everyone else, granting her a more important and respectful status. Due to this dramatic entrance, she causes great astonishment to the young and innocent Christian it is at this moment that he instantaneously falls in love with her, and this is where the love story begins.
The device of audience participation cinema encourages the audience to enter the world of the film that is undoubtedly fantasy. By using the normal components of modern filmmaking in an over-exaggerated and unrealistic fashion it immediately catches an audience’s attention due to the fact that it is foreign to them. Through costume, song, music, dance, light and colour this can be achieved and techniques such as these are used to great advantage by Lurhman when creating ‘Moulin Rouge’. Due to this over-enthusiastic inclusion of the audience they are constantly made fully aware that what they are watching is a film and never allows them to believe what they are watching is reality. By using costume, song, music and dance to exaggerate certain aspects of a film, Lurhman managed to achieve his initial aims when making the movie ‘Moulin Rouge’. When an audience leaves the cinema after watching a film such as this, they are fully aware that what they have just encountered was definitely a movie and not reality.
